Multi-tier quality of service wireless communications networks

ABSTRACT

The present invention pertains to improved communication quality of service (QoS) in cellular communication networks ( 10 ) and the like. A customer has the option to pay different fees for different tiers of service relating to voice quality and bandwidth access (S 102 ). Higher service tiers may guarantee that a specific vocoder or bit rate is used; they may also guarantee that communication is supported by such parameters as maximum allowed dropped calls rate, maximum allowed jitter and maximum allowed latency (Table 1). Network availability may be guaranteed as per Service Level Agreements that are the part of the contract between a subscriber and a service provider. Different tiers may be associated with customers&#39; records ( 208 ) for billing purposes. The network ( 200 ) may also afford high end cellular phones higher voice quality by comparing a given high end phone to a look up table (FIG.  6 ), which indicates what level of service is associated with the given phone. A calling mobile station ( 312 ) or a receiving mobile station ( 302 ) may ask the other mobile station to change to a more robust vocoder ( 410 ) or bit rate (S 508 ) to ensure a higher quality phone call. Furthermore, the user may also opt to change the quality level before or during a call.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/US2009/002676, filed Apr. 29, 2009, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/125,971, entitled “Multi-Tier Service Wireless Communications Network,” filed Apr. 30, 2008, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/166,344, entitled “Multi-Tier Quality of Service Wireless Communications Networks,” filed Apr. 3, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/167,580, entitled “Multi-Tier and Secure Service Wireless Communications Networks,” filed Apr. 8, 2009, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to wireless communications, and, more particularly, to creating multi-tier cellular phone communications system with different quality tiers of services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of wireless communication has grown steadily for years, as wireless communication systems offer customers convenience and flexibility. Wireless cellular communication systems have been based on a wide variety of technologies, such as Time Division Multiple Access (“TDMA”), Global System for Mobile communications (“GSM”), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“UMTS”), and Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”). These technologies have evolved in an attempt to increase the number of subscribers that can be serviced at a given time (capacity) and also to improve the quality of service for subscribers. For instance, in recent years so-called third generation or “3G” cellular systems have been deployed to provide access to fast Internet and video. These include systems based upon standards and/or recommendations such as 3GPP and IMT-2000, which implement wideband CDMA (“WCDMA”) or other high-bandwidth architectures.

Such systems offer customers a wide array of services, from basic voice communication to Short Message text messaging (“SMS”), Multimedia Messaging Service (“MMS”), e-mail access and even video applications. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional cellular wide-area network implementation 10 in which a number of cells 12 are each served by one or more base stations (“BSs”) 14. Each base station may include a RF (Radio Frequency) transmission section and a baseband section for signal processing, call management, etc. A number of base stations are typically coupled to a mobile switching center (“MSC”) or mobile telephone switching office (“MTSO”) 16. In turn, the MTSO 16 is coupled to other network elements (not shown) and/or to the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) 18. User devices 20 include wireless telephones, laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants (“PDAs”) and other devices that have two-way voice, data and/or video capabilities. Such devices are often referred to as mobile units or mobile stations (“MSs”).

As a given mobile station 20 travels or roams across a service provider's network, it typically sends and receives packets of data, including digitized voice, from multiple base stations. At any given time, primary communication (e.g., a voice call) is conducted between the mobile station and one base station, commonly referred to as the “serving base station.” The serving base station may change from a first base station to a second base station as the location of the mobile station changes or other factors impinge on the signal between the mobile station and first base station. This process of switching between base stations is called handoff.

One of the major problems in cellular communication may be the unsatisfactory quality of service for subscribers. The signals transmitted between users' mobile stations and the network's base stations may be affected by a number of different factors, including blockage by buildings or terrain, multipath interference, movement and speed of the mobile station, handoffs between base stations, other mobile stations, etc; other network transmission characteristics, such as delay, jitter and uptime (availability) of the network affect signal quality as well. Furthermore, there is a finite bandwidth available at each base station or for a given cell in the wireless system. Thus, users are often subject to dropped calls and inferior voice quality, in contrast to the general high reliability of landline phone communications with plain old telephone service (“POTS”).

The number of users who can be served by a cell or by a particular base station is impacted by the above mentioned issues and other factors. Service providers and mobile equipment manufacturers have attempted to deal with such issues with a number of different solutions. For instance, a serving base station may require mobile stations to perform power control to limit their transmission power. This helps to reduce the interference presented by transmissions from other mobile stations signals and therefore increase the signal to interference and noise ratio (“SINR”) for other mobile stations. It can also enable more users on the system at a given time.

Mobile stations may also employ improved reception using so-called “RAKE” receivers to handle multipath propagation. See, for instance, “WCDMA for UMTS: Radio Access for Third Generation Mobile Communications,” edited by Holma and Toskala, copyright 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Another useful reference is “CDMA: Principles of Spread Spectrum Communication,” by Andrew Viterbi, copyright 1995 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Another solution to make a communication channel more efficient implements speech coding to reduce the amount of data that must be sent in order to reliably reproduce a user's voice. A general treatment of speech coding may be found in “Mobile Communication Systems,” by Parsons and Gardiner, copyright 1989 by Blackie and Son Ltd., the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Speech coding in mobile telephony applications is typically done using a codec (coder/decoder). Voice codecs or voice coders (“vocoders”) having varying levels of compression are often employed to reduce the required communication bandwidth by reducing the sampling rate of a voice signal. The terms codec and vocoder are used interchangeably herein.

Most of the frequencies that reproduce speech lie in the range of about 300 Hz to 3400 Hz. A band-limited signal, such as a speech signal, may be reconstructed from digital samples taken at or above the “Nyquist rate,” which is a rate corresponding to two times the frequency bandwidth of the signal. This may require up to 64 Kb/s per user. However some vocoders can provide a reasonably good representation of voice with as little as 2.4 Kb/s of data rate.

Over the years, a number of different techniques have been used in different systems. By way of example only, one technique called code-excited linear prediction (“CELP”) has been implemented by Qualcomm in its “QCELP” vocoders. Another popular technique is called the enhanced variable rate codec (“EVRC”). More recently, a variation called EVRC-B has been implemented in 3G systems. Other techniques include the selectable mode vocoder (“SMV”) and adaptive multi-rate compression (“AMR”).

One of the advantages of vocoders implementing such techniques is that the compression rate may be varied. Variable compression can result in reduced transmission overhead, which, in turn, can enable a service provider to accommodate more users on the wireless system. However, for any given vocoder the higher the compression level and the fewer bits used to represent the information, the less the output sounds like the original input (e.g., the voice of the user). In other words, the fidelity of the coded voice will decrease as the number of bits used to represent the voice decreases. While the user may not notice some degradation in quality, if the bit rate is reduced enough, or if a less robust vocoder is used, at some point the user may become aware of the reduced quality of the call.

Furthermore, in many applications a vocoder may change the bit rate one or more times during a call, and different calls may use different vocoders. Thus, a user may experience varying voice quality in the middle of a call or when making or receiving different calls. This can be frustrating to many users. Unfortunately, in conventional systems the user has no control over which vocoder is used or which level of compression is employed at any given time. Instead, these are typically mandated by standards and/or by the carrier's or service provider's own requirements or specifications.

In view of this, one can consider cellular telecommunications systems to be “one size fits all” types of systems. All mobile phones operating on a given network are subject to the same constraints, regardless of whether the mobile phone was given to the user for free as part of a particular plan or whether the user paid hundreds of dollars or more for the phone. There is usually no differentiation, and bandwidth and transmission characteristics mentioned above are imposed on all subscribers.

By way of example only, certain manufacturers have offered luxury cellular phones costing many thousands of dollars. Nokia, for one, launched a company called Vertu to sell high end phones. The Vertu Constellation, which is finished in 18 kt gold, retailed for $20,000. An even more expensive phone is the Motorola SLVR L7 Diamond, which was priced at $75,000. And the Diamond Crypto Smartphone has been reported to cost $1.3 million. Nonetheless, in existing systems users of such phones are subject to the same performance problems and constraints as are users of low priced or even free phones.

Vocoder performance is only one aspect that affects quality of service (“QoS”) for a subscriber. As soon as signal leaves a mobile station, it is traveling through many spans and even networks until it reaches its destination, which may be another mobile station. Such transmission characteristics as network availability (which often relates to equipment protection), signal delay, jitter and dropped packets rate are major factors that affect the grade of service quality. In traditional cellular networks, there is no differentiation of users by quality of service.

It may be useful to note that in the literature on wireless communications the term “multi-tier cellular network” usually refers to overlaying cells of different size such as micro-cells and macro-cells in a two-tier network, which are commonly used today. This is not the meaning of “multi-tier” network as it is used herein. A “multi-tier” network as used herein refers to a wireless communication network with different tiers of service, wherein each tier of service corresponds to a different level of service, such as quality of service (QoS) or different levels of security, each tier priced differently. In the literature, such networks are often referred to as “multi-class wireless networks.” For the purposes of this disclosure the terms “multi-tier” and “multi-class” are used interchangeably as synonymous.

In view of the above, a need exists for improved service quality in cellular communications systems and other wireless architectures. A further need exists for a multi-tier cell phone service offering customers guaranteed minimum bandwidth and level of quality of communication (defined also by latency, jitter, and network availability and dropped rate of the calls). Yet another need exists for custom service plans allowing customers to purchase custom level of cell phone communication service, which guarantees a minimum bandwidth and level of quality of communication (defined also by latency, jitter, network availability and dropped rate of the calls), corresponding to a particular tier in a multi-tier communication system. Still another need exists to match the quality of cellular phone communications to the quality and/or price level of a handset used by a customer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method of providing telecommunication service in a wireless communication network comprises: providing a plurality of service levels, each of the plurality of service levels corresponding to a different quality level of communication between a wireless mobile station and a base station of the wireless communication network, and each of the plurality of service levels also corresponds to different service charges in an overall pricing structure; providing an option to a customer to select one of the plurality of service quality levels for use with the wireless mobile station; storing the selected service quality level in a customer record associated with the wireless mobile station; and configuring the customer record to bill the customer a predetermined price for the selected service quality level.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a wireless communication system comprises at least one base station; at least one network server operatively connected to the at least one base station; a data storage device operatively connected to the at least one network server; a customer record database stored on the storage device for maintaining records of a plurality of customers of the wireless communication system and for identifying at least one wireless mobile station associated with each of the plurality of customers; and a plurality of service quality levels, each of the plurality of service levels corresponding to a different quality level of communication and to a different service fee in an overall pricing structure.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method of setting a service level in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a network server, the network server having a customer record database associated therewith, the method comprises receiving an incoming call indication by a first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station being registered with the cellular communication network; determining a service level associated with the first mobile station; and selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first mobile station, the selection being determined by the first mobile station's service level agreement.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, a method of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a network server, the network server having customer record database associated therewith, the method comprises initiating a call scenario for a first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station being registered on the cellular communication network; identifying a service level associated with the first mobile station; selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first mobile station, the selection being determined by the identified service level; and communicating with the cellular communication network using the selected vocoder with the selected vocoder bit rate in accordance with the service level agreement purchased by a subscriber.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, a method of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a network server, the network server having customer record database associated therewith, the method comprises initiating a call scenario for a first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station being registered on the cellular communication network; identifying a QoS associated with the first mobile station; selecting at least one of a vocoder and vocoder guaranteed QoS level for use by the first mobile station, the selection being determined by the identified QoS level; and communicating with the cellular communication network using the selected vocoder.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, a method of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations and a network server having customer record database, the method comprises receiving an incoming call from a first one of a plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station being registered on the cellular communication network; determining a service level associated with the first mobile station; selecting a predetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the first mobile station, the selection being determined by the service level of the first mobile station; allocating the selected predetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the first mobile station; and communicating with the first mobile station using the selected bandwidth as per a Service Level Agreement.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a mobile station for operation on a multi-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality of quality of service tiers corresponding to different levels of quality of wireless communications, the wireless mobile station comprises a housing; a microphone positioned within the housing; an analog-to-digital converter disposed within the housing and operatively connected to the microphone; a digital signal processor disposed within the housing and operatively connected to the analog-to-digital converter; a receiver disposed within the housing and operatively connected to the digital signal processor; a transmitter disposed within the housing and operatively connected to the digital signal processor; an antenna at least partially received within the housing and operatively connected to the transmitter and the receiver; and at least one vocoder operable to code and decode signals corresponding to the plurality of service tiers on the wireless communication network.

In another embodiment, a base station is provided for use in a multi-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality of service tiers corresponding to different levels of quality guaranteed by Service Level Agreements, which are a part of a service contract between a subscriber and a service provider; of wireless communications. The base station comprising a tower; an antenna positioned on the tower; a transceiver for transmitting and receiving data packets to and from mobile users in the wireless communication network; and a processor operatively coupled to the transceiver and programmed to select a vocoder for corresponding tier communication in response to a phone call from a wireless mobile station based on the record in a lookup table.

In another embodiment, a method of providing telecommunication service in a wireless communication network comprises providing a plurality of Quality-of-Service (“QoS”) levels, each of the plurality of QoS levels corresponding to a different QoS level of communication between a wireless mobile station and a base station of the wireless communication network, and each of the plurality of QoS levels also corresponds to a different price in an overall pricing structure; providing an option to a customer to select one of the plurality of QoS levels for use with the wireless mobile station; storing the selected QoS level in a customer record associated with the wireless mobile station; and configuring the customer record to bill the customer a predetermined price for the selected QoS level. In one example, each QoS level of communication is a quality level of an audio signal sent or received by the wireless mobile station.

In an alternative, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a particular vocoder bit rate. In another alternative, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a selection of a vocoder used by the wireless mobile station. In a further alternative, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a minimum guaranteed bandwidth used by the wireless mobile station. In yet another alternative, the audio signal quality level relates to a dropped call rate. In another alternative, the audio signal quality level corresponds to at least one of a frequency ranges of an incoming audio signal, a sampling frequency of the incoming audio signal, and a dynamic range of the incoming audio signal. In a further alternative, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a predetermine level of network protection between mobile stations involved in a conversation; and the network protection ranges from a basic protection level to a 1:1 protection level to guarantee QoS purchased by a subscriber. And in another alternative, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a service level determined by a contract between a service provider and a subscriber including at least one of a maximum allowed latency and a jitter value guaranteed by a service provider.

In another example, the wireless communication network reserves a predetermined bandwidth for at least some of the plurality of QoS levels. In a further example, the wireless communication network reserves a predetermined protection level for at least some of the plurality of QoS levels. In yet another example, the wireless communication network reserves a predetermined maximum allowed latency for at least some of the plurality of QoS levels. In another example, the wireless communication network reserves a predetermined maximum allowed jitter level for at least some of the plurality of QoS levels. In a further example, the wireless communication network reserves a predetermined maximum allowed dropped call rate for at least some of the plurality of QoS levels. And in another example, the wireless communication network is a cellular communication network.

Another embodiment provides a wireless communication system, comprising at least one base station; at least one network server operatively connected to the at least one base station; a data storage device operatively connected to the at least one network server; a customer record database stored on the storage device for maintaining records of a plurality of customers of the wireless communication system and for identifying at least one wireless mobile station associated with each of the plurality of customers; and a plurality of QoS levels, each of the plurality of QoS levels corresponding to a different quality level of communication and to a different price in an overall pricing structure.

In an example, the customer record database is updatable to reflect a selected level of QoS for a given customer. In another example, each quality level of communication is a quality level of an audio signal to be sent or received by a mobile station of a given customer. In a further example, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a vocoder bit rate. In yet another example, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a selection of a vocoder of a user's mobile station. In another example, the audio signal quality level corresponds to a minimum guaranteed bandwidth of a user's mobile station. In a further example, the audio signal quality level corresponds to particular communication channel availability as per a contract with a service provider. And in another example, the audio signal quality level corresponds to at least one of a maximum allowed value for signal latency, jitter and dropped call rate of a received signal at the user's mobile station, the audio quality level being guaranteed by a service contract between the user and a service provider.

In another embodiment, a method of setting a QoS level in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a network server is provided. Here, he network server has a customer record database associated therewith, and the method comprises receiving an incoming call indication by a first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station being registered with the cellular communication network; determining a QoS level associated with the first mobile station; and selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first mobile station, the selection being determined by the first mobile station's QoS level.

In one example, determining the QoS service level includes querying the customer record database to identify the mobile station's service level. In another example, determining the service level includes determining a model number of the mobile station; and accessing a lookup table using the model number to identify the service level associated with the mobile station model number. In a further example, the method further comprises receiving a QoS service level identifier from the first mobile station by a first one of the plurality of base stations of the cellular communication network; validating the service level identifier; selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first base station, the selection being determined by the validated service level identifier; and transmitting a service level confirmation to the first mobile station.

In another example, the plurality of mobile stations further includes a second mobile station. In this case, determining further comprises determining a QoS level of the second mobile station; and selecting further comprises identifying a higher tier QoS level from among the first and second mobile station service levels; and selecting at least one of the vocoder and the vocoder bit rate for use by the first and second mobile stations, the selection being determined by the higher tier service level. In a further example, the plurality of mobile stations further includes a second mobile station; determining further comprises determining a service level of the second mobile station; and selecting further comprises identifying a lower tier service level from among the first and second mobile station service levels; and selecting at least one of the vocoder and the vocoder bit rate for use by the first and second mobile stations, the selection being determined by the lower tier service level.

Another embodiment is directed to a method of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations, a plurality of mobile stations and a network server. Here, the network server has customer record database associated therewith, and the method comprises initiating a call scenario for a first one of the plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station being registered on the cellular communication network; identifying a QoS level associated with the first mobile station; selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first mobile station, the selection being determined by the identified QoS level; and communicating with the cellular communication network using the selected vocoder or the selected vocoder bit rate.

In one example, identifying the QoS level includes retrieving a predetermined QoS level stored in a memory of the first mobile station. In another example, the memory is a nonvolatile memory of the first mobile station. In a further example, the memory is a subscriber identity module of the first mobile station. In yet another example, the call scenario is initiated by a user of the first mobile station making an outgoing call. In a further example, selecting the at least one of the vocoder and the vocoder bit rate is done at the first mobile station. In another example, the call scenario is an incoming call received by the first mobile station. And in yet another example, the plurality of mobile stations further comprises a second mobile station; the incoming call is initiated by the second mobile station; and selecting further includes selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the second mobile station for the incoming call.

Another embodiment is directed to a method of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations and a network server having customer record database. The method comprises receiving an incoming call from a first one of a plurality of mobile stations, the first mobile station being registered on the cellular communication network; determining a QoS level associated with the first mobile station; selecting a predetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the first mobile station, the selection being determined by the service level of the first mobile station; allocating the selected predetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the first mobile station; and communicating with the first mobile station using the selected bandwidth.

In one example, the QoS level of the first mobile station is stored in a customer record of the customer record database. In another example, a service area is divided between subscribers in a such way that each subscriber is assigned by a contract between the subscriber and a service provider to belong to a closed service group, with all subscribers in a given closed service group class have the same service level agreement. In this case, the method further comprises providing that a subscriber of a lower grade class can communicate with a subscriber from a higher grade class with an additional per call fee; and providing that the subscriber of the higher grade class can communicate with the subscriber from the lower grade class with an additional per call fee charged to the lower class subscriber. In a further example, the selected predetermined bandwidth is allocated for the duration of the incoming call. And in another example, the incoming call includes a bandwidth indicator that is received by a first one of the plurality of base stations. In this case, the method may further comprise passing the bandwidth indicator from the first base station to the network server; validating the bandwidth indicator at the network server by comparing the bandwidth indicator to a bandwidth value associated with the first mobile station that is stored in the customer record database; and if the bandwidth indicator is validated, enabling the allocation of the selected predetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the first mobile station.

Another embodiment of the invention is a method of providing a multi-tier telecommunication service for mobile stations in a cellular communication network including a plurality of base stations. The method comprises providing a plurality of communication modes, each of the plurality of communication modes having a different quality level of communication between mobile stations utilizing the cellular communication network and the plurality of base stations of the cellular communication network; and providing a plurality of service tiers, each of the plurality of service tiers corresponding to one of the plurality of communication modes, wherein each of the plurality of service tiers also corresponds to a different price so that a first one of the tiers corresponding to a communication mode with a higher quality level of communication is more expensively priced than a second one of the tiers corresponding to a communication mode with a lower quality level of communication.

In one example, the method further comprises providing a first mobile station for use in the cellular communication network, the first service tier corresponding to the communication mode with the higher quality level of communication being associated with the first mobile station; providing a second mobile station for use in the cellular communication network, the second service tier corresponding to the communication mode with the lower quality level of communication being associated with the second mobile station; and offering the first mobile station for sale or lease at a higher price than the second mobile station. In another example, the method further comprises selling or leasing at least one of the first and second mobile stations to a customer; and storing each service tier associated with the at least one of the first and second mobile stations in a customer record associated with the sold or leased at least one of the first and second mobile stations. In a further example, the method further comprises configuring the customer record to bill the customer a predetermined price for each stored service tier.

Another embodiment is directed to a method of procuring multi-tier cellular telecommunication service in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations and a mobile station. The method comprises identifying a plurality of QoS tiers, each of the tiers corresponding to a different quality level of communication between the mobile station and the plurality of base stations of the cellular communication network; and selecting one of the service tiers from among the plurality of service tiers.

In one example, each of the plurality of QoS tiers also corresponds to a different price, so that a premium tier corresponding to a higher quality level of communication is priced higher than a tier corresponding to a lower quality level of communication. In another example, the method further comprises purchasing by a customer the selected QoS tier for use with the mobile station. And in a further example, the selected service tier is the premium service tier and the method further comprises paying a predetermined higher price for the selected premium service tier.

In another embodiment, a mobile station for operation on a multi-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality of service tiers corresponding to different QoS levels of wireless communications is provided. The mobile station comprise a housing; a microphone positioned within the housing; an analog-to-digital converter disposed within the housing and operatively connected to the microphone; a digital signal processor disposed within the housing and operatively connected to the analog-to-digital converter; a receiver disposed within the housing and operatively connected to the digital signal processor; a transmitter disposed within the housing and operatively connected to the digital signal processor; an antenna at least partially received within the housing and operatively connected to the transmitter and the receiver; and at least one vocoder operable to code and decode signals corresponding to the plurality of service tiers on the wireless communication network.

In one example, the plurality of service tiers includes a premium service tier, the at least one vocoder is operable to code and decode signals corresponding to the premium service tier, and wherein the premium service tier is associated with higher quality of wireless communications. In another example, the at least one vocoder is programmed to provide a low compression rate for higher quality voice communication. In a further example, the mobile station also comprises memory for storing a quality indicator. The memory is operatively coupled to the transmitter, wherein upon communication to a base station of the wireless communication network, the quality indicator is retrieved from the memory and passed to the base station, whereby the quality indicator instructs the base station to select an appropriate vocoder for a predetermined quality of communication corresponding to the quality indicator.

Another embodiment is directed to a base station for use in a multi-tier wireless communication network providing a plurality of service tiers corresponding to different levels of quality of wireless communications. The base station comprises a tower; an antenna positioned on the tower; a transceiver for transmitting and a receiver for receiving data to and from mobile users in the wireless communication network; and a processor operatively coupled to the transceiver and the receiver and programmed to select a vocoder for premium tier communication in response to a phone call from a wireless mobile station based on the record in a lookup table. In one example, the lookup table is one of a phone number identifier and a model of the wireless mobile station.

Another embodiment is directed to a wireless communication system comprising at least one base station; at least one wireless mobile station capable of communicating with the at least one base station using radio frequency communication; a mobile switching center; and wireless communication network linking the at least one base station and the at least one wireless mobile station with the mobile switching center. The wireless communication network provides a plurality of tiers of wireless service corresponding to a different QoS level of communication between a wireless mobile station and a base station of the wireless communication network, and each of the plurality of service levels also corresponds to a different price in an overall pricing structure.

In a further embodiment, a cellular telephone network comprises a plurality of base stations and a plurality of cellular phones, and an improvement comprises a multi-tier service having a plurality of communication modes utilizing at least one of minimum bandwidth, a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate, wherein a premium-tier mode corresponds to higher quality communication; and a plurality of service tiers priced differently, wherein each of the plurality of service tiers correspond to one of the plurality of communication modes so that a more expensive service tier corresponds to a premium communication mode.

Another embodiment is directed to a cellular communication network comprising at least one base station; at least one mobile station; at least one network server having customer record database; means for receiving an incoming call from one of the at least one mobile station registered on the cellular communication network; means for determining a QoS level associated with the one of the at least one mobile station; means for selecting a predetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the one of the at least one of mobile station, the selection being determined by the one of the at least one of mobile station's service level; means for allocating the selected predetermined minimum bandwidth for use by the one of the at least one of mobile station; and means for communicating with the one of the at least one of mobile station using the selected bandwidth.

A further embodiment is directed to a cellular communication network comprising at least one mobile station; at least one base station having a microwave antenna for receiving an incoming call by one of the at least one mobile station registered on the cellular communication network; at least one network server, the network server having customer record database sufficient to determine a service level associated with the one of the at least one mobile station; a lookup table for selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the one of the at least one of mobile station, the selection being determined by the one of the at least one of mobile station's service level; and a radio-frequency transmitter operatively connected with the base station for communicating between the one of the at least one of mobile station and the cellular communication network using the selected vocoder or the selected vocoder bit rate.

Yet another embodiment is directed to a wireless mobile station for communicating in a cellular communication network having at least one base station and at least one network server. The network server has customer record database and the wireless mobile station comprises a transmitter for transmitting an outgoing call by the mobile station registered on the cellular communication network; means for querying the customer record database to determine QoS level associated with the one of the at least one mobile station; means for selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the one of the at least one of mobile station, the selection being determined by the one of the at least one of mobile station's QoS level; and means for communicating with the cellular communication network using the selected vocoder or the selected vocoder bit rate.

Another embodiment is directed to an improved method for wireless transmission of telecommunication signals, comprising providing a plurality of signal generation modes, each the mode corresponding to at least one of a different bandwidth, a different vocoder and a different bit rate, where each the mode yields a different signal quality; providing a pricing structure for use of the method wherein the price for signal transmission using each of the modes is related to the signal quality thereof; and permitting selection of a signal generation mode by users of the method.

In another embodiment, a cellular telecommunication system includes an improvement comprising means for providing a plurality of signal generation modes, each the mode corresponding to at least one of a different bandwidth, a different vocoder and a different bit rate, where each the mode yields a different signal quality; means for providing a pricing structure for use of the method wherein the price for signal transmission using each of the modes is related to the signal quality thereof; and means for permitting selection of a signal generation mode by users of the method.

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, each of the embodiments, examples and alternative modes of operation herein may be used in combination with any other aspects of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates conventional cellular system architecture.

FIG. 2 illustrates a call quality flow diagram in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an outgoing call process flow in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a call flow scenario in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates another call flow scenario in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a lookup table in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative call flow scenario in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a further call flow scenario in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 9 provides a mobile station architecture in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 10 provides an alternative mobile station architecture in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative outgoing call flow scenario in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates an alternative incoming call flow scenario in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates another outgoing call flow scenario in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates an alternative incoming call flow scenario in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 15 illustrates a communication system in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating a first upgrade operation in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating a second upgrade operation in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated when considered with reference to the following description of exemplary embodiments and accompanying figures.

In accordance with aspects of the invention, it is recognized that wireless communication customers who either have high priced phones or who spend a good deal of time on the phone, such as business people and teenagers, may be willing to pay for an improved quality level of service and/or security that differentiate them from other subscribers. This is akin to the free market approach in general where consumers are able to purchase various levels of service commensurate with their willingness and ability to pay for them.

For example, while many people fly coach class, some people are willing to pay for business class or first class, which may be significantly more expensive, if they desire and can afford a higher level of service. Even some hospitals have separate floors for “VIP” patients who receive special services for an additional price.

In another example, in the existing cellular networks, consumers/businesses are purchasing various service features for an additional fee. Those features, by an example only, may include coverage, Internet access, email, multimedia and GPS services.

In the cable and satellite television industries, consumers are free to choose between less costly basic services and packages, which offer more channels and/or better quality. For instance, customers may choose HDTV digital service instead of basic digital service. And people who wish to buy broadband Internet service can often subscribe through their cable (or PSTN) service provider. Here they may share the same bandwidth with other subscribers or may pay for access to a higher bandwidth level. Broadband users may also buy guaranteed bandwidth with various service levels using DSL (e.g., Fractional T1, T1, T3 or other speeds).

Another free market situation exists where consumers are given the option of using a private toll highway versus a public non-toll road. Some cities and states provide drivers with the option to use private toll highways with an expectation of less congestion and a quicker trip for those who are willing to pay for it. It can be seen that consumers who wish to purchase such services have a choice as to what tier of service they are willing to pay for.

In accordance with aspects of the present invention, multi-tiered service offerings are provided for cellular communication systems. In exemplary embodiments, a customer may choose between different tiers of service quality, which may offer different guaranteed levels of voice quality and/or bandwidth as stipulated by a contract between a service provider and a user.

By the way of example only, Table 1 illustrates a possible differentiating of subscribers based on quality of services, depicting classes of services and their characteristics. This table illustrates a possible service offering when a service provider offers three classes of service quality, i.e., Class I, Class II and Class III, the highest being Class I. Subscribers can purchase various “quality of service” packages. For example, for a subscriber of Class I, the provider selects 1:1 protection facilities to support availability of the service not less than 99.95%, bandwidth for transmission with a vocoder rate not less than 12 Kb/s, guarantee latency not more than 130 ms and jitter not more than 10 ms. The percentage of dropped calls should be limited to not more than 3%. All these characteristics will be referred to SLAs—“Service Level Agreements”—that may be clearly stipulated in the service contract.

TABLE 1 Percent of Class of Availability Dropped Service/ (%)/Facility Bandwidth Latency/ Calls Characteristics Protection Kb/s Jitter (ms) (Max) I 99.95% 1:1 12 and up 130/10 3 protection II 99.9% 1:N 7-8 180/20 5 protection III 98.5% 2-4 220/35 7-8 Protection is limited

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Here, as shown at step S100, the user may purchase, rent or otherwise obtain/receive a mobile device. At step S102, the user selects a predetermined tier of service (which he/she agreed to pay for as per a service contract). Each tier of service may directly correspond to at least one Class of Service (as per specific SLAs), which a service provider offered and a user purchased, each being differentiated by transmission parameters as explained above; corresponding to a particular voice quality level and a bandwidth amount.

By way of example only, the voice quality level may be associated with a particular bit rate for a codec or vocoder used by the mobile device and the communicating network infrastructure such as a base station or mobile switching center as well as network facilities supporting such infrastructure. For instance, the system may offer a number of bit rates ranging from, e.g., 4.75 Kb/s up to 12.2 Kb/s for a given vocoder. One or more intermediate rates may be provided between the lowest and highest bit rates. The lowest bit rate may correspond to the lowest quality or fidelity of the coded voice signal, while the highest bit rate may correspond to the highest quality or fidelity of the coded voice signal. Multiple vocoders may be offered in a given mobile station (or it may be one vocoder with programmable bit rate settings). Each vocoder may support one or more bit rates, such as 4.5 kbps, 5.5 kbps, 6.5 kbps, 7.5 kbps, 8.5 kbps, 9.5 kbps, 10.5 kbps, 11.5 kbps, 12.5 kbps or any increments between these bit rates. Of course, it should be understood that higher and/or lower bit rates may also be supported.

By way of example only, the voice quality level may be associated with network facilities characteristics that support the infrastructure. For instance, the system that supports a user call can be fully protected and can guarantee very low probability of failure. This may be adopted to support the highest Class of Service offered for purchasing by a Service Provider. By way of example only, the SLAs on the purchased Class of Service may include provisioning to support a particular low latency value and jitter as well as an upper limit on the rate of the dropped calls.

While quality or fidelity may be subjective to some degree, a number of techniques have been developed to quantify the evaluation process. For instance, British Telecom developed a call clarity index (“CCI”). Another known technique is the mean opinion score (“MOS”). Yet another technique, called perceptual evaluation of speech quality (“PESQ”), has been promulgated by the ITU. See, for instance, ITU-T Recommendation P.862. A more recent E-model is ITU Standard G.1072 that quantifies what is essentially a subjective judgment: a user's opinion of the perceived quality of a voice transmission. Such techniques generally operate on a speech quality scale ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 being bad, being poor, 3 being fair, 4 being good and 5 being excellent. Any such quantifiable technique may be used in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention. In general, the following characteristics of transmission are measured to characterize voice quality: (i) Rate of dropped calls; (ii) Latency; and (iii) Jitter. In addition, as per a service contract, the service provider may guarantee a particular value of the network availability as shown in Table 1.

In one example, the voice quality level may correspond to a value or range of values on a speech quality scale. In one example, the user may select a first voice quality level of between 4-5, a second quality level of between 3-4, a third voice quality level of between 2-3 and a fourth voice quality level of between 1-2. In an exemplary pricing plan, the first voice quality level (e.g., between 4 and 5) is the most expensive to purchase, with the price dropping for each lower voice quality level. Of course, it should be understood that these voice quality levels are merely exemplary and other gradations may be employed. For instance, a middle tier voice quality level may be between 3.5 and 4.0, an upper tier voice quality level may be between 4.0 and 4.5, and the highest tier voice quality level may be between 4.5 and 5.0.

In the case where the tiers of service correspond to a bandwidth amount, the user may be given the option of selecting between any number of predetermined bandwidth amounts. The specific bandwidths may be system dependent in view of the amount of spectrum available at a given cell or base station. In one example, the system may permit the user to use bandwidth that would otherwise be allocated to one or more other users. Thus, as fewer users may be accommodated, the higher bandwidth user may pay a higher fee for access to the additional bandwidth.

Such aggregation of bandwidth may be advantageous to ensure a higher bit rate for a given vocoder or for other applications. By way of example only, the user may wish to send or receive real-time video content. The bandwidth required may depend on the display size of the mobile station. Bandwidth aggregation helps to ensure that the user views the video at the desired video and audio quality levels. For instance, a given application may require a high definition video quality with 7.1 channel audio.

In yet another alternative, the tiers of service may correspond to a dropped call rate. For instance, if a cellular system typically averages a dropped call rate of X %, then the tiers of service may guarantee the user different dropped call rates. By way of example only, a basic (lowest) tier may guarantee that a user will never observe a dropped call rate more than X % at no additional charge, while a mid-level tier may guarantee a dropped call rate of X*0.9 (a 10% improvement in dropped call rate). A high level tier may guarantee a dropped call rate not more than X*0.75 (a 25% improvement in dropped call rate.) And a “premier” tier may guarantee a dropped call rate not more than X*0.5 (a 50% improvement over the typical dropped call rate). While several tiers have been provided in this example, it should be understood that different tiers and/or ranges of tiers may also be provided. For instance, a series of three or more tiers may each have a set percentage improvement between each tier (e.g., a 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% or 25% improvement). Furthermore, the dropped call rate may be set once to cover all networks the mobile device may operate on, or it may vary from network to network depending on the specific architecture and other design factors of each network.

In still another alternative, the tiers of service may be correlated with a provisioning of latency values. For instance, if a cellular system typically averages N ms delay for the basic (lower-grade service), then a specific Class of Service may provide support for maximum delay (latency) values not more than N−kN, where k<1.

In another alternative, the tiers of service may be correlated with a provisioning of jitter values. For instance, if a cellular system typically averages J ms jitter for the basic (lower-grade service), then a specific Class of Service may provide support for maximum jitter values not more than J−kJ, where k<1.

The user may purchase a given level of service quality at the time he or she receives the cellular phone, for instance at a kiosk in the mall, at the service provider's store, etc. Alternatively, the service of any level may be purchased upon activation of the phone, such as with over the air activation. When the service provider sets up the customer's account record, the record will reflect the appropriate level of service associated with his or her mobile device, as shown at step S104 of FIG. 2.

In another example, after the phone is activated the user may run an applet or other program on the phone, or otherwise send a command from the phone to the network via a serving base station in order to request a change in the user's quality of service level. The user may press an actuator or select an option in a software menu to request the change. And as shown in step S104, the customer's account record is updated to reflect the new quality of service level.

In another example, a user may order a service, which allows for adaptively interacting with a network (“adaptive service”). A user may initially subscribe to the highest quality service. In such a case, when the user activates his/her telephone, or makes a call, a service provider initially offers a “basic” service, with the lowest bandwidth or data rate as well as other transmission characteristics corresponded to a particular quality of transmission. If transmission conditions are not satisfactory, the MS may require a BS to step-up to the next layer of service. In multi-tier networks, this process may be repeated in discrete steps, until a user reaches the conditions corresponding to the highest level of service. In this case, the user may pay less for such service than he/she would pay for the highest quality service only.

A further option available to the user is the ability to set or change the service level via a web-based interface. For instance, the user may access his or her account record through a website of the appropriate service provider. This may be done directly through the user's mobile station or using a separate device such as a laptop or desktop computer. Once the account is accessed, the user may have the option to view the existing service quality level for one or more mobile devices associated with the user's account.

The user is desirably able to change the service quality level for one or more of the mobile devices through a graphical user interface. Once a change has been made, the customer's account record is updated to reflect the new service level at step S104. Changes may be done globally for all of the user's devices at the same time or may be done separately for one or more of the user's devices. Thus, the user may set the voice quality rate of his or her cell phone to a first tier and set the voice quality rate and/or video quality rate of his or her PDA or “smartphone” to a second tier.

In yet another alternative, the quality service level in the customer's record may be set in accordance with the model of mobile device used by the customer. Here, if the user purchases or owns an expensive or high end mobile station such as the Vertu Constellation, the quality service level may be placed at a given level, such as the highest service level. This may be done by comparing the make and/or model of the mobile station to a lookup table or other index to determine which service level should be employed.

In yet another alternative, the user may select an adaptive service. In this case, he/she may pay a higher premium in comparison with a basic service, but less than he/she would pay for the highest quality level of service.

As shown in step S106 of FIG. 2, upon setting or updating the change in the quality of service level, the customer's billing record is set or updating to reflect the fee charged for the current level of service. The billing record may be part of the customer's general records or may be a separate record stored in a dedicated billing database or other database. Here, the process may terminate at step S108 or may return to step S104 for modification.

Once the user's cellular phone or other mobile station is configured to operate on the service provider's network with a quality service level corresponding to the subscriber's SLAB and a network transmission parameter corresponding to this particular subscriber's SLA(s) as well, he or she can make and receive calls or otherwise transmit/receive data. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, FIG. 3 presents a flow diagram 120 illustrating an embodiment of how tiered servicing may be implemented when making outgoing calls. First, at step S120, an outgoing call is initiated on the user's mobile station. Step S122 shows that different modes are possible, such as a local mode and a network mode. The two modes will be addressed in detail below.

Turning first to the network mode case, the process continues at step S124. Here, after call initiation, a check is made of the customer's records to identify the current quality service level. Then at step S126 the appropriate vocoder and/or bit rate are selected based upon the current quality service level. Once the selection is made, the process may continue at step S128 where the user may conduct his or her call in accordance with the selection(s). Then the process may terminate at step S130.

In order to better describe one method of operation involving this network mode, reference is now made to FIG. 4. This figure presents a functional diagram 200 showing the user's mobile station 202, the serving base station 204, a mobile switching center 206 and the customer record database 208 used by a service provider. Other network elements are omitted for clarity.

In an example, the user's mobile station initiates a call by sending one or more signaling strings to the base station as shown by arrow 210. This signal flow may include a user device identifier therein. In this case, the user device identifier may be contained in a header or another particular place of such a string.

The base station may pass the user device identifier to the mobile switching center or other internetworking infrastructure as shown by arrow 212. The mobile switching center may then access a customer record database as shown by arrow 214. At this point the system is able to identify an appropriate quality service level for the user's mobile device in accordance with the user's customer record, which corresponds to a subscriber's contract (SLA) with a service provider.

Then the customer record database passes information concerning the quality service level back to the mobile switching center as shown by arrow 216. By way of example only, the information may be a value representing the quality service level. In turn, the mobile switching center may then pass the service level information back to the base station as indicated by arrow 218. The base station can thus select an appropriate vocoder for use (if more than one is available) and/or set a bit rate for the base station's vocoder. Finally, as shown by arrow 220, the base station may then send the mobile device its own identifier, which tells the mobile device which vocoder to use (if more than one is available) and/or which bit rate to set for the mobile station's vocoder. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the base station vocoder and the mobile station vocoder may be set to the same or different bit rates in view of the service level information.

In another example, when the user originates a call, data packets are sent from the mobile station to the base station as shown by the arrow 210. However, in this example no user device identifier is sent by the mobile station. Upon receipt of the data packets identifying a call origination, the base station communicates with the mobile switching center or other internetworking infrastructure as shown by the arrow 212. In turn, the mobile switching center may then access a customer record database as shown by the arrow 214.

Then as above, the customer record database looks up the user's record in the database and passes information concerning the quality service level back to the mobile switching center as shown by the arrow 216. In turn, the mobile switching center may then pass this information back to the base station as indicated by the arrow 218. The base station can thus select an appropriate vocoder for use (if more than one is available) and/or set a bit rate for the base station's vocoder. Finally, as shown by the arrow 220, the base station may send the mobile device its own identifier, which tells the mobile device which vocoder to use (if more than one is available) and/or which bit rate to set for the mobile station's vocoder.

Thus, in these two network examples for mobile station call origination, it can be seen that the mobile station itself may send a user device identifier, which is passed to the customer record database or the infrastructure itself may check the database once the call is initiated.

Returning to step S122 of FIG. 3, when in local mode the process proceeds to step S132. Here, when the customer makes an outgoing call, the mobile station may send a user device identifier in one or more data packets to the serving base station. The user device identifier may include a quality level and/or bandwidth indicator. This may be done by placing the indicator in a packet header or in some other predefined data field in a given data packet.

Upon receipt of the indicator, the base station may validate the identifier as shown in step S134, for instance by comparing the identifier against a stored identifier in a database. The validation may be done locally at the base station or remotely by a mobile switching center, interworking function, customer record database or other network entity.

As shown in step S136, the base station may be operable to select the vocoder and/or set the bit rate to a quality level as indicated by the received identifier. This may be confirmed by sending a return indicator back to the mobile station as shown at step S138. Upon receipt of confirmation, the mobile station may then select the vocoder and/or set the bit rate to comply with the settings at the base station. The process proceeds to step S140, where the user can then conduct his/her call. The process may terminate at step S142.

In order to better describe one method of operation involving the local mode, reference is now made to FIG. 5. This figure presents a functional diagram 240 showing the user's mobile station 202, the serving base station 204, mobile switching center 206 and the customer record database 208. As with FIG. 4, other network elements are omitted for clarity.

In an example, the user's mobile station initiates a call by sending one or more data packets to the base station as shown by arrow 242. At least one of the data packets may include a user device identifier therein, e.g., in a header of the data packet. This identifier contains information on the Class of Service (including security), which this particular subscriber purchased from the service provider. The base station may validate the identifier locally or may pass a validation request to the mobile switching center as shown by dashed arrow 244. If passed, the mobile switching center may process the validation request locally or may pass the request to other network resources such as the customer record database as shown by dashed arrow 246. A validation answer may be passed back from the database as shown by dashed arrow 248, and the validation answer may be passed from the mobile switching center to the base station as shown by dashed arrow 250.

Regardless of whether validation is performed locally by the base station or remotely, if the identifier is validated then the base station desirably selects an appropriate vocoder for use (if more than one is available) and/or set a bit rate for the base station's vocoder. Network characteristics may be set up as per the selected Class of Service. Finally, as shown by the arrow 252, the base station may send the mobile station its own identifier, which tells the mobile device which vocoder to use (if more than one is available) and/or which bit rate to set for the mobile station's vocoder. The bit rates selected for the base station and mobile station vocoders may differ.

For any of the above examples, the indicator from the mobile station may include a request to use a particular vocoder, bit rate and/or bandwidth, as well to support transmission characteristics appropriate to the SLA purchased by this subscriber or to activate a selected security level. In this case, the base station or other network element may determine the specific vocoder, bit rate and/or bandwidth in view of the indicator and the level of service purchased by the customer. The indicator may, by way of example only, specify different vocoders, bit rates and/or bandwidths, which the mobile station may support.

In another example, the indicator from the mobile station may specify a particular vocoder, bit rate and/or bandwidth that the base station is to use. The indicator may also specify transmission characteristics as per a purchased SLA. Here, if the indicator is validated, then the specified vocoder, bit rate and/or bandwidth are used for wireless communication with the mobile station. Thus, a more expensive mobile station may instruct a serving base station to select the best available vocoder and/or bit rate to ensure the best sound quality of communication.

In yet another alternative, the indicator identifies the make and/or model of the mobile station. In this case, the base station or other network device may have a lookup table of supported mobile stations. An example of such a lookup table is provided in FIG. 6. Here six different mobile station models from various manufacturers are identified. For ease of understanding, only three tiers of service are provided, specifically a lowest tier, a middle tier and a highest tier. It should be understood that any number of service tiers may be provided. As shown in the figure, three of the models are assigned to the middle tier, one of the models is assigned to the lowest tier, and two of the models are assigned to the highest tier.

By way of example only, if a user initiates a call using a model associated with the lowest tier, the mobile station may be assigned to the lowest bit rate provided by the vocoder, e.g., on the order of 4.75 kbps, such as between about 4.5 kbps and 5.0 kbps. Mobile station models associated with the middle tier may be assigned a vocoder bit rate on the order of 7.75 kbps, such as between about 7.5 kbps and 8.0 kbps. And mobile station models associated with the highest tier may be assigned a vocoder rate on the order of 12.2 kbps, such as between about 11.9 kbps and 12.5 kbps. This creates significant benefits for service providers that can put more subscribers on the same bandwidth, or serve fewer subscribers but with higher level of service.

As discussed above, mobile stations will switch to different serving base stations depending upon the locations of the mobile stations relatively to BSs and other factors. Thus, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, upon switching to a new serving base station, any of the initiation processes explained herein may be employed. Alternatively, during handoff the system may identify to the new serving base station, which tier of service the new serving base station is to accommodate for the mobile station. This may be done via base station to base station communication, or upon direction from the mobile switching center or other network device as it communicates with the new serving base station. Such operation is desirable as it appears seamless to the mobile station.

The above examples focused on calls initiated by the user's device. Another situation occurs when the user's device receives an incoming call or communication, which may come from another mobile station, a POTS telephone, a computer or the like. As shown in the scenario 300 of FIG. 7, an incoming call may be received from a landline phone or other communication device 302 and may pass through the PSTN or other network 304 to mobile switching center 306, as shown by arrows 308 and 310, respectively.

Upon receipt of an incoming call for a given mobile station, e.g., mobile station 312, the mobile switching center 306 or other wireless network entity may access customer record database 314 as shown by arrow 316. At the customer record database the mobile station's quality service level is identified and a result is passed to the mobile switching center as shown by arrow 318. Next, the mobile switching center passes the incoming call along with the quality service level for the call to base station 320 as shown by arrow 322.

The base station may set its vocoder and/or bit rate as well as identify a transmission path corresponding to the purchased service quality level. The base station may then send one or more data packets to the mobile station as shown by arrow 324. At least one of these data packets includes a quality service level identifier that the mobile station uses to set its vocoder and/or bit rate, e.g., as packet header information. Then communication between the mobile station and the landline or other device may take place as shown by arrows 326, 328, 330 and 332. The over the air communication between the mobile station and the base station occur using the set vocoder and/or bit rate in accordance with the mobile station's service level.

In an alternative, the incoming call is routed from the landline telephone or other device to the mobile station, and once the mobile station receives an indication that a call has been initiated it sends a quality service level request or identifier to the base station, for instance via a header, flag or other indicator in a data packet. As in the example of FIG. 4, the system may then validate the quality service level identifier by evaluating the customer record database or by examining a lookup table as discussed in regard to FIG. 6.

In yet another embodiment, an incoming call may be received from another mobile station. An example of this situation is shown in the scenario 340 of FIG. 8, where an incoming call is received from mobile station 342 and pass through base station 344 (the serving base station of mobile station 342) to mobile switching center 346, as shown by arrows 348 and 370, respectively.

Upon receipt of an incoming call for the user's mobile station, e.g., mobile station 352, the mobile switching center 346 or other wireless network entity may access customer record database 354 as shown by arrow 356. At the customer record database the user's mobile station's quality service level is identified and a result is passed to the mobile switching center as shown by arrow 358. Next, the mobile switching center passes the incoming call along with the quality service level for the call to serving base station 360 of the mobile station 352 as shown by arrow 362.

The base station 360 may set its vocoder and/or bit rate in accordance with the identified quality service level. The base station 360 may then send one or more data packets to the mobile station 352 as shown by arrow 364. At least one of these data packets includes a quality service level identifier that the mobile station 352 uses to set its vocoder and/or bit rate, e.g., as packet header information. Then, communication between the mobile station 352, shown as MS1 in FIG. 8, and the mobile station 342, shown as MS2 in FIG. 8, may take place as shown by arrows 366, 368, 370 and 372. The over the air communication between the mobile station 352 and the base station 360 occurs using the set vocoder and/or bit rate in accordance with that mobile station's service level.

In an alternative, the incoming call is routed from the mobile station 342 to the mobile station 352, and once the mobile station 352 receives an indication that a call has been initiated it sends a quality service level request or identifier to the base station 360, for instance via a header, flag or other indicator in a data packet. As in the example of FIG. 4, the system may then validate the quality service level identifier by evaluating the customer record database or by examining a lookup table as discussed in regard to FIG. 6.

In another example, it should be understood that both mobile stations, e.g., MS1 and MS2 in FIG. 8, may have quality service levels set in accordance with FIG. 2 above. These service levels may be the same or may differ. Should the service levels differ, several options are available. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, when the receiving mobile station has a higher quality service level (e.g., a higher bit rate for its vocoder), then the receiving mobile station issues an instruction to the originating mobile station to have the originating mobile station switch to a matching quality service levels (if this is possible). This may be done at the expense of the originating mobile station, or the service provider may bear the expense.

In the situation where the originating mobile station has the higher quality service level, it may instruct the receiving mobile station (e.g., via a data packet header, flag or other identifier) to operate at the higher quality service levels (if this is possible). And as above, this may be done at the expense of the originating mobile station or the service provider may bear the expense.

In such a situation where the two mobile stations are arranged to operate at the same voice quality or service level, it may be desirable that the serving base stations are set to equivalent or corresponding voice quality or service levels. For instance, the serving base stations may each be set to the same vocoder bit rate. And it should be understood that a single base station may act as the serving base station for both of the mobile stations. Furthermore, more than two mobile stations may all be communicating simultaneously as part of a three-way or conference call. In this situation, the mobile station with the highest service level may dictate the service level of one or more of the other communicating mobile stations.

In yet another scenario, MS2 sends a request to MS1 (e.g., through base stations BS1 and BS2 and with the help of MSC) to communicate. As an example only, the mobile stations may be registered with different quality service levels. For example, the MS2 user may have bought only a basic service plan and the MS1 user may have bought the highest quality level of service. BS1 and BS2 recognize such a fact. The called party BS1 and the calling party BS2 may have the ability to set-up a communications channel between two entities, MS1 and MS2 (see FIG. 8). As soon as the BS closest to MS1 (BS1 in FIG. 8) recognizes that the two parties have different bit coding rates, it terminates the line and makes a real-time recording of all data coming from MS2 and re-decoding analog streams in a way acceptable to MS1, i.e., with the vocoder settings of MS1. At the other side of the link, BS2 (which is the closest BS to MS2 at this particular time) terminates traffic flow from MS1, and re-decodes the person's voice as per MS2's settings. In this way, both mobile stations communicate with each other without violations of service agreements with a provider.

In a further scenario, a service provider(s) creates “closed” groups of subscribers. Here, each group is differentiated by quality service level agreements. For example, the premium services customers want to receive and transmit information as per their contract with a service provider with arranged SLAs. This contract may require that service provider needs to select the best facilities (for example, fiber optics channels with dual rings architecture to guarantee high-quality transmission and reception). Identifications of subscribers' service and security levels for each closed group may be performed as described above. If a subscriber from the “closed” group with a lower service grade wants to communicate with a subscriber from a higher level of service group, then he/she may pay a premium for the duration of the call. If a subscriber belongs to a closed group with a higher level of service, and he/she wants to talk with a subscriber, which belongs to a closed group with a lower service grade, then the premium may be paid again by the lower service grade subscriber (similar to the current rules in the U.S. when a subscriber pays for both incoming and outgoing calls)

FIG. 9 illustrates a mobile station 400 for use in accordance with aspects of the present invention. As shown, the mobile station 400 may include a baseband subsystem 402 and an RF or wireless subsystem 404. Both the baseband and RF subsystems may be controlled by a processor such as CPU 406. As used herein, the term RF encompasses, but is not limited to the signals in the frequency range from 300 MHz up to 3 GHz. This range is often referred to as the ultra high frequency band (“UHF”). By way of example only, RF may encompass signals of lower frequency ranges such as a very high frequency (“VHF”) from 30 MHz to 300 MHz or even lower, such as in the high frequency (“HF”) band. RF may also encompass signals of higher frequency ranges such as super high frequency (“SHF”) from about 3 GHz up to 30 GHz or beyond, such as extremely high frequency (“EHF”) in the range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz or higher.

The RF subsystem preferably includes a receiver and a transmitter (“transceiver”) coupled to an antenna (not shown). Details on RF subsystem architectures may be found in “Transceiver System Design for Digital Communications,” by Scott R. Bullock, copyright 1995 by Noble Publishing, the entire disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

By way of example only, the baseband subsystem may include a digital signal processor (“DSP”) 408, one or more vocoders 410, A/D (Analog/Digital) converters 412, a user interface 414, application software 416 and peripherals 418. The DSP may perform various signal processing tasks, and the vocoder(s) may be separate from or part of the DSP. In one example, the DSP is part of the processor 406 and/or may perform operations of the processor 406. Multiple vocoders may be desirable, especially in the situation where the mobile station is configured to operate on different carriers' networks such as a WCDMA network and a GSM network. Each vocoder may support multiple bit rates. The user interface may include a text interface, a GUI, actuators such as switches, buttons and the like. The application software may be configured to run/control various programs on the mobile station, such as a calendar program, a contacts program, games, an Internet browser, etc. Different peripherals may also be employed, such as an external audio output, microphone input, a charging connector and connectors for other electronic devices, such as a USB connector.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, before or during a call the user may press an actuator or “soft button” of the user interface to cause the mobile station to instruct the base station/network to user a particular compression level (e.g., a specific bit rate) and/or to use a particular vocoder or bandwidth. The user interface may also be used to instruct a BS to use a given Class of Service. This may be done in conjunction with application software to set the call quality. Then, as above, the quality information is used to set the bit rate, vocoder and/or bandwidth during communication with a recipient.

If the recipient is another mobile station, the caller may use the actuator or the soft button to instruct the receiving mobile station and/or the network to switch the receiving mobile station to the same quality service level as the calling mobile station. This will help to ensure that both parties are sending and receiving at the same quality level.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, if for some reason the network fails to utilize the specified vocoder, bit rate, bandwidth and/or other transmission parameters that identify Class of Service for the duration of a call or transmission, the user who is supposed to receive the specified quality level may be financially compensated for such a failure. For instance, the customer's billing record may be credited a full or partial amount of what the call or transmission would have been charged to the customer. Furthermore, metrics may be provided to customers showing the quality level for incoming and outgoing calls. Such metrics may be appended to the user's billing records, available through a web-based GUI or the like.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, FIG. 10 illustrates a variation of the mobile station 400, namely mobile station 400′. As shown, the mobile station 400′ includes a baseband subsystem 402′ as well as the RF or wireless subsystem 404. Both the baseband and RF subsystems may be controlled by a processor such as CPU 406.

Many of the components of the mobile station 400′ are the same as those in the mobile station 400 and operate as described above. As shown in FIG. 10, the mobile station 400′ includes one or more quality service level indicators 420, which may be hard programmed into the mobile station 400′. In one example, this may be done by programming the quality service level indicators 420 into firmware of the baseband subsystem 402′ when the phone is purchased by a customer. In another example, the programming may be accomplished by recording the quality service level indicators 420′ in a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM during manufacture of the mobile station 400′. In a further example, the quality service level indicator(s) are hard programmed onto a subscriber identity module (“SIM”) card, which can be received through one of the peripherals 418.

Regardless of how the quality service level indicator(s) 420 is/are hard programmed into the mobile station 400′, a given quality service level indicator may be utilized as follows. As shown in the flow diagram 500 of FIG. 11, in the case where a user of the mobile station 400′ initiates an outgoing call, the user interface 414 may receive a command from the user to begin a call as shown in step S500. Next, as shown at step S502, the user interface 414 may alert the CPU 406 that a call has been initiated. Then as shown in step S504, the CPU 406 may read the appropriate quality service level indicator 420 from memory, e.g., from non-volatile or permanent memory. The quality service level indicator 420 may be selected depending upon the particular network on which the mobile station 400′ is currently operating.

As shown in step S506 only as an example, the CPU 406 may select a specific vocoder 410 to use if more than one vocoder is available. And as shown in step S508, the CPU 406 may set the vocoder to a predetermined bit rate or quality level based upon the service level indicator 420 employed. Next, as shown in step S510, the mobile station 400′ may communicate with the current service base station and instruct the base station as to what vocoder and/or bit rate the mobile station will employ during the call. The process may conclude at step S512.

A similar process may occur when the mobile station receives an incoming call. In one example shown in the flow diagram 520 of FIG. 12, in the case where a user of the mobile station 400′ receives an incoming call, the RF/wireless subsystem 404 may receive notification of an incoming call from a serving base station as shown in step S520. As shown at step S522, the CPU 406 may be alerted that a call has been initiated. Then as shown in step S524, the CPU 406 may read the appropriate quality service level indicator 420 from memory, e.g., from non-volatile or permanent memory. The quality service level indicator 420 may be selected depending upon the particular network on which the mobile station 400′ is currently operating.

As shown in step S526 only as an example, the CPU 406 may select a specific vocoder 410 to use if more than one vocoder is available. And as shown in step S528, the CPU 406 may set the vocoder to a predetermined bit rate or quality level based upon the service level indicator 420 employed. As shown in step S530, the mobile station 400′ may communicate with the current service base station and instruct the base station as to what vocoder and/or bit rate the mobile station will employ during the call. The process may conclude at step S532.

Alternative procedures may be employed when initiating or receiving calls with the mobile station 400′. For instance, as shown in the flow diagram 540 of FIG. 13, in the case where a user of the mobile station 400′ initiates an outgoing call, the user interface 414 may receive a command from the user to begin a call as shown in step S540. Next, as shown at step S542, the user interface 414 may alert the CPU 406 that a call has been initiated. Then as shown in step S544, the CPU 406 may read the appropriate quality service levels indicator 420 from memory, e.g., from non-volatile or permanent memory. The quality service level indicator 420 may be selected depending upon the particular network on which the mobile station 400′ is currently operating.

Then, as shown in step S546, the quality service level indicator may be used to send a command or request to the base station or other network element to select an appropriate level of service. The base station or other network element (e.g., MSC) may then select an appropriate quality service level in view of the quality service level indicator information received from the mobile station 400′, as shown at step S548. Then as shown at step S550, the mobile station 400′ receives a service level message from the base station.

Based upon the received quality service level message, the baseband subsystem 402′ (e.g., CPU 406) may select a specific vocoder 410 to use if more than one vocoder is available, as shown at step S552. And as shown in step S554, the CPU 406 may set the vocoder to a predetermined bit rate or quality level based upon the service level indicator 420 employed. The process may conclude at step S556.

A similar process may occur when the mobile station receives an incoming call. In one example shown in the flow diagram 560 of FIG. 14, in the case where a user of the mobile station 400′ receives an incoming call, the RF/wireless subsystem 404 may receive notification of an incoming call from a serving base station as shown in step S561. As shown at step S562, the CPU 406 may be alerted that a call has been initiated. Then as shown in step S564, the CPU 406 may read the appropriate quality service level indicator 420 from memory, e.g., from non-volatile or permanent memory. The quality service level indicator 420 may be selected depending upon the particular network on which the mobile station 400′ is currently operating.

Then, as shown in step S566, the quality service level indicator may be used to send a command or request to the base station or other network element to select an appropriate quality level of service. The base station or other network element (e.g., MSC) may then select an appropriate quality service level in view of the quality service level indicator information received from the mobile station 400′, as shown at step S568. Then as shown at step S570, the mobile station 400′ receives a quality service level message from the base station.

Based upon the received quality service level message, the baseband subsystem 402′ (e.g., CPU 406) may select a specific vocoder 410 to use if more than one vocoder is available, as shown at step S572. And as shown in step S574, the CPU 406 may set the vocoder to a predetermined bit rate or quality level based upon the service level indicator 420 employed. The process may conclude at step S576.

It should also be understood as described elsewhere herein, that in the case when the incoming call is from another mobile device or any user device in which the bit rate or vocoder may be set, the caller's device may have its bit rate/vocoder set commensurate with that of the user device 400′. This may be done, for example, to ensure consistent voice quality between the parties on the call.

As discussed above, the user may set or change the quality service level(s) for one or more devices using a web-based interface. FIG. 15 provides an exemplary system 600 in which a user may view and/or modify quality service levels over a network.

For example, the system 600 may include a server 610 containing a processor 620, memory 630 and other components typically present in a computer. The server may be associated with a particular wireless communication network, in which case it may be in operative communication with or operatively coupled to the MTSO or MSC. The memory 630 stores information accessible by processor 620, including instructions 640 that may be executed by the processor 620 and data 635 that may be retrieved, manipulated or stored by the processor. The memory 630 may be of any type capable of storing information accessible by the processor, such as a hard-drive, ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, write-capable or read-only memories.

The processor 620 may comprise any number of well known processors, such as processors from Intel Corporation. Alternatively, the processor may be a dedicated controller for executing operations, such as an ASIC. The instructions 640 may comprise any set of instructions to be executed directly (such as machine code) or indirectly (such as scripts) by the processor. In that regard, the terms “instructions,” “steps” and “programs” may be used interchangeably herein. The instructions may be stored in any computer language or format, such as in object code or modules of source code. The quality service level information may be a short code that indicates which quality class of service is purchased by a subscriber. The functions, methods and routines of instructions in accordance with the present invention are explained in more detail below.

Data 635 may be retrieved, stored or modified by processor 620 in accordance with the instructions 640. The data may be stored as a collection of data. For instance, although the invention is not limited by any particular data structure, the data may be stored in computer registers, in a relational database as a table having a plurality of different fields and records, XML documents, or flat files. The data may also be formatted in any computer readable format Moreover, the data may include any information sufficient to identify the relevant information, such as descriptive text, proprietary codes, pointers, references to data stored in other memories (including other network locations) or information which is used by a function to calculate the relevant data.

Although the processor 620 and memory 630 are functionally illustrated in FIG. 15 as being within the same block, it should be understood that the processor 620 and memory 630 may comprise multiple processors and memories that may or may not be stored within the same physical housing or location. For example, some or all of the instructions and data may be stored on a removable CD-ROM and others within a read-only computer chip. Some or all of the instructions and data may be stored in a location physically remote from, yet still accessible by, the processor. Similarly, the processor may actually comprise a collection of processors, which may or may not operate in parallel.

In one aspect of the present invention, server 610 communicates with one or more client computers 650 and 652. Each client computer may be configured similarly to the server 610, with a processor 654, memory and instructions, as well as a user input device 670 and a user output device, such as display 660. Each client computer may be a general purpose computer, intended for use by a person and having all the internal components normally found in a personal computer such as the processor 654 (e.g., a CPU), display 660, CD-ROM, hard-drive, mouse, keyboard, touch-sensitive screen, speakers, microphone, modem and/or router (telephone, cable or otherwise) and all of the components used for connecting these elements to one another.

The server 610 and client computers 650 are capable of direct and indirect communication with other computers, such as over a network 680. Although only a few computers are depicted in FIG. 15, it should be appreciated that a typical system can include a large number of connected servers and clients, with each different computer being at a different node of the network. The network 680, and intervening nodes, may comprise various configurations and utilize various protocols and communications channels including the Internet, intranets, virtual private networks, wide area networks, local networks, private networks using communication protocols proprietary to one or more companies, Ethernet, WiFi and HTTP.

Communication may be facilitated by any device capable of transmitting data to and from other computers, such as modems (e.g., dial-up or cable), network interfaces and wireless interfaces. Server 610 may be a web server. Although certain advantages are obtained when information is transmitted or received as noted above, other aspects of the invention are not limited to any particular manner of transmission of information. For example, in some aspects, the information may be sent via a medium such as a disk, tape, CD-ROM, or directly between two computer systems via a dial-up modem. In other aspects, the information may be transmitted in a non-electronic format and manually entered into the system.

In the case where the user of one of the client computers is a customer accessing his/her account records, the system 600 may be an Internet or web-based system. The user may set or change the quality service level(s) of one or more devices using system 600. For instance, the server 610 may provide a GUI to the user with an option to select from among a plurality of quality service levels for a given user device. Once a selection has been made, the user's customer record may be updated to reflect the selection. A customer record database may be part of memory 635, and may be accessible, either directly or indirectly, from the network's base stations, MSC or other network infrastructure. Here, the user may access the GUI using his/her own computer or through a computer provided by the service provider, such as at a kiosk or at one of the service provider's stores.

In another example, the user may be a reseller or aggregator who may pre-set service levels into various mobile stations using either a client computer or the server 610 directly. Here, by way of example only, the customer record database may be stored locally with the server 610 with access provided to the network provider(s) or the customer record database may be maintained by a network provider with access provided to the reseller or aggregator.

In yet another example, the user may be a mobile station manufacturer who may pre-set service levels into various mobile stations using either a client computer or the server 610 directly. This may be done, as discussed above, by hard wiring the service level(s) into the mobile station during production.

In the adaptive level service, the user may start, as predetermined by means of programming, with the lowest service level. The transcoder may have a threshold device, which analyzes one or several parameters of the received signal. The thresholds may be correlated with a quality of service level. As soon as the transceiver extracts information that shows the received signal degradation, the threshold device asks MS to switch to the next higher service level and the process continues until the communications channel is in the satisfactory conditions (or until the subscriber exhausted all possibilities he/she was entitled).

In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, another embodiment addresses a situation where a customer who has purchased a premium tier of assured quality communicates with another person who may or may not subscribe to the premium tier. In the case where both users have the same premium service, a voice call may be carried out between them by setting the system as described above. For instance, the incoming/outgoing call is set at the premium tier of service for the receiving party/calling party using any of the processes herein.

In a situation where the other person does not subscribe to a premium tier, one option is to conduct a call with the first party operating with the premium tier while the other party operates at a lower tier of service. However, in many situations this may be undesirable, as the call quality received by the premium tier customer will be substandard.

Thus, in one alternative, when a call is made to/from a premium tier mobile station and the other party's mobile station has a lower tier of service, the other party may receive an upgrade in service for the duration of the call to match the premium tier of the other mobile station. This may be done automatically or manually.

For instance, in an automatic mode of operation a network device, such as a serving base station of the non-premium tier mobile station, may receive an indication that the other mobile station is a premium tier device. Here, the serving base station of the non-premium tier mobile station may automatically choose a higher quality vocoder, greater bandwidth, etc. for the non-premium tier mobile station in order to ensure end to end high quality communication between the two mobile stations. Thus, even though the non-premium tier mobile station would not normally operate in a premium tier mode, it may be “forced” or “upgraded” into such a tier as long as it is capable of supporting that mode of operation (e.g., supports the premium tier vocoder).

In one alternative, this type of upgrading may be available under a “premium plus” type of plan, wherein the subscriber to the premium tier may be given the additional option of upgrading calling/called parties. This may be done for an additional charge, which may be billed via the subscriber's customer record. The premium plus service may have a flat rate charge, such as a monthly fee charged whether or not any upgrades are made. Alternatively, the subscriber may be charged on a “pay as you go” program where he or she is billed the premium plus fee only when the other party is actually upgraded.

In another alternative, the subscribers who are not matched by quality of service may communicate according to their service subscription until the signal reaches the closest BS to a subscriber BS. Such a BS then terminates data streams and re-records and transmits them at an appropriate bandwidth and bit rate for the corresponded subscriber.

In still another alternative, subscribers may be united by purchased grade classes of quality of services. In this way, they organize closed groups of subscribers and can talk to each other, as was described above, inside of the group. If a subscriber from a “lower” group wants to talk to a subscriber from a “higher” level group, then, as per a contract, he/she needs to pay a premium for the duration of such a call. The same situation is valid when a subscriber from a “lower” group receives a call from a subscriber that belongs to a “higher” level group, a network instructs a lower grade subscriber to use transmission that guarantees a higher group quality of service. Note that groups are supposed to be compatible, i.e., mobile stations should have the ability to be adjusted to the same transmission characteristics.

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary call configuration process 700, which may be employed with the automatic mode of operation. The process begins with a call initiation at step S700. This initiation may be done by either party, and does not require that both users be wireless mobile stations on the same network. For instance, one of the users may have a mobile station registered on a first network, while the other user may have a mobile station registered on a second network. In an alternative, the second user may have a wired or wireless voice over IP (“VOIP”) device, which may be communicating through an Internet server.

At steps S702 and S704, determinations are made about the calling party and called party tiers of quality services. This may be done in accordance with any of the embodiments set forth herein. At step S706 a determination is made as to whether the tiers of service quality of both parties match. If there is a match, then as shown in step S708 the call may commence without service level intervention by a network device (e.g., a base station). After the call, the process may terminate at step S710.

It should be noted that in the case of devices operating on different networks and/or offerings by different providers, there may not be an exact conformity between tiers of service. In accordance with an aspect of the invention, even if there is not an exact match of tiers, if the quality of service between the users' tiers correlates in accordance with a predetermined threshold, then a match may be declared and the process would proceed at step S708. For instance, assume a first user has a first tier of service quality corresponding to use of a first vocoder. The other user may operate on a different network with a second tier of service corresponding to use of a second vocoder. If the two vocoders provide voice quality levels commensurate with one another, e.g., a 10.0 kbps CELP codec for the first vocoder and a 9.5 kbps EVRC codec for the second vocoder, then a predetermined threshold may be satisfied and the call may commence. Correlation in accordance with such a threshold may be determined in accordance with equivalent voice quality levels as set forth above.

If the tiers of service do not match, then as shown at step S712 a network element (e.g., a base station) may select an appropriate level of service for the device (e.g., mobile station) having the lower tier of service. For instance, as shown at step S714, a vocoder of the lower tier device may be selected to match the higher tier of the other user's device. Alternatively or additionally, additional bandwidth may be selected to match that of the higher tier device. As shown at step S716, the vocoder or bandwidth may be set to a predetermined bit rate or quality level commensurate with the higher tier device. One of both of the caller/callee parties may be billed in accordance with the upgrade, as shown by step S718. After the call, the process may end at step S710.

Another mode of operation may exist where, once a call is initiated, the tier of operation of the calling/called party is identified. This may be done, by way of example, with a network device such as a serving base station querying a customer record database. Alternatively, the calling/called party's device may identify its level of quality service as set forth above, such as via an identifier that is part of a transmitted data packet. In either case, the premium tier mobile station may be notified about the difference in service levels. At this point, the premium tier mobile station user may elect to upgrade the other party's quality level for the call. For instance, the premium tier party may choose to pay to upgrade the other party's plan/tier for the current call.

Alternatively, the lower tier party may be notified that the other party operates or is capable of operating at the premium tier. Here, the lower tier party may be offered the opportunity to upgrade his/her tier for the duration of the call. In yet another alternative, the lower tier party may initially be offered the upgrade option first and if he/she declines, then the premium tier party may be offered the option to upgrade the other party. Or in a further alternative, the premium tier party may initially be offered the upgrade option first and if he/she declines, then the lower tier party may be offered the option to upgrade the other party. In still another alternative, at the time of subscribing to a wireless service, a party choosing a tier less than the highest tier may be offered as part of the plan an option for an automatic upgrade to a higher tier whenever this party receives a phone call from a second party having a higher tier of serves to match the second party's tier, on a pay-per-call basis or for a fixed monthly surcharge.

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary call configuration process 750, which may be employed with yet another mode of operation. The process begins with a call initiation at step S750. As discussed above with regard to process 700 of FIG. 16, this initiation may be done by either party, and does not require that both users be wireless mobile stations on the same network. For instance, one of the users may have a mobile station registered on a first network, while the other user may have a mobile station registered on a second network. In an alternative, the second user may have a wired or VoIP device, which may be communicating through an Internet servers.

At steps S752 and S754, determinations are made about the calling party and called party tiers of services. This may be done in accordance with any of the embodiments set forth herein. At step S756, a determination is made as to whether the tiers of service of both parties match. If there is a match, then as shown in step S758 the call may then commence. After the call, the process may terminate at step S760.

If there is not a match, then one or both parties to the call may be notified about the difference in service tiers, as shown in step S762. Each notified party may be offered an option to upgrade the lower tier user to match the service level of the higher tier user, as shown in step S764, or this upgrade may take place automatically according to each user's service plan. This may be done by checking the user account record to see if the user has elected an option to upgrade his/her service on a call by call basis in the event of a call with another user with a higher tier of service. Or this may be done if the higher tier user's account record includes an indication that the user elects to upgrade the other party. In another example, an indicator or request may be sent to one or both users for display or other identification on the respective user device. Here, the respective user may or may not choose to upgrade the service.

A query may be made at step S766 to see if a user elected to upgrade the service level of the lower tier device. If no upgrade was chosen, then the process may continue at step S758. If an upgrade was chosen, then the user who elected the upgrade may be billed commensurately as shown in step S768.

As shown at step S770, a vocoder of the lower tier device may be selected to match the higher tier of the other user's device. This selection may be done by either user or by the network (e.g., serving base station). Alternatively or additionally, additional bandwidth may be selected to match that of the higher tier device. As shown at step S772, the vocoder or bandwidth may be set to a predetermined bit rate or quality level commensurate with the higher tier device. After the call, the process may end at step S760.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, while particular processes are shown in a specific order in the appended drawings, such processes are not limited to any particular order unless such order is expressly set forth herein.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention enjoys wide industrial applicability including, but not limited to, communicating among user devices in wireless communication networks. The present invention allows devices to effectively utilize a communication channel and supports high quality of transmission, which will benefit service providers and subscribers alike. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of setting a QoS level in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations and a network server having a customer record database associated therewith, the method comprising: receiving an incoming call indication by a first mobile station from a second mobile station, the first mobile station being registered with the cellular communication network; determining a first QoS level associated with the first mobile station and determining a second QoS level associated with the second mobile station; determining whether the first and second QoS levels match; when there is no match, determining whether the first and second QoS levels correlate in accordance with a predetermined threshold; when the first and second QoS levels do not correlate, identifying a higher tier QoS level and a lower tier QoS level from among the first and second mobile station service levels; and selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first and second mobile stations, the selection being determined by either the higher tier QoS level or the lower tier QoS level.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the QoS service levels includes querying the customer record database to identify the first and second mobile station's service levels.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first and second QoS levels includes: (a) determining a model number of each respective mobile station; and (b) accessing a lookup table using the model number to identify the service level associated with the respective mobile station model number.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: (a) receiving a QoS service level identifier from the first mobile station by a first one of the plurality of base stations of the cellular communication network; (b) validating the service level identifier; (c) selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first base station, the selection being determined by the validated service level identifier; and (d) transmitting a service level confirmation to the first mobile station.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting includes upgrading the lower tier QoS level to the higher tier QoS level.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the upgrading includes choosing the vocoder or the vocoder bit rate for use by both the first and second mobile stations in accordance with the higher tier QoS level.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the upgrading is performed in accordance with a subscriber service plan for the mobile station having the higher tier QoS level.
 8. The method of claim 5, further comprising billing one or both of a caller or a callee party in response to the upgrading the lower tier QoS level to the higher tier QoS level.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting includes matching the vocoder of the mobile station having the lower tier QoS level to the vocoder of the mobile station having the higher tier QoS level.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the matching includes setting the vocoder bit rate of the mobile station having the lower tier QoS level to the vocoder bit rate of the mobile station having the higher tier QoS level.
 11. A method of communicating in a cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations and a network server, the network server having customer record database associated therewith, the method comprising: initiating a call scenario between a first one of the plurality of mobile stations and a user device, the first mobile station being registered on the cellular communication network; identifying a QoS level associated with the first mobile station, including retrieving a predetermined QoS level stored in a memory of the first mobile station; determining whether there is a match between the QoS level associated with the first mobile station and a QoS level associated with the user device; when there is no match, determining whether the QoS level associated with the first mobile station correlates with the QoS level associated with the user device participating in the call scenario in accordance with a predetermined threshold; and when the QoS levels do not correlate, selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the first mobile station, the selection including determining whether to upgrade the QoS level associated with the first mobile station to match the QoS level associated with the user device.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the memory is a nonvolatile memory of the first mobile station.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the memory is a subscriber identity module of the first mobile station.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the call scenario is initiated by a user of the first mobile station making an outgoing call.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein selecting the at least one of the vocoder and the vocoder bit rate is done at the first mobile station.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the call scenario is an incoming call received by the first mobile station.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein: the incoming call is initiated by the user device; and the selecting further includes selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the user device for the incoming call.
 18. A wireless mobile station for communicating in a cellular communication network having at least one base station and at least one network server, said network server having customer record database, said wireless mobile station comprising: a transmitter configured to transmit an outgoing call by the mobile station registered on the cellular communication network to a user device; means for querying the customer record database to determine a QoS level associated with the mobile station; means for determining whether there is a match between the QoS level associated with the mobile station and a QoS level associated with the user device; means for selecting at least one of a vocoder and a vocoder bit rate for use by the mobile station, the selection being determined in accordance with whether the QoS level correlates to the QoS level a user device participating in the outgoing call when there is no match; and means for communicating with the cellular communication network using the selected vocoder or the selected vocoder bit rate. 